Monaghan County Council calls for embattled councillor Hugh McElvaney to resign

Monaghan County Council calls for embattled councillor Hugh McElvaney to resign

Independent.ie

Monaghan County Council has called for the resignation of veteran councillor Hugh McElvaney, who was caught on film asking for a £10,000 payment in exchange for helping to secure planning permission for wind farms.

Monaghan County Council has called for the resignation of veteran councillor Hugh McElvaney, who was caught on film asking for a £10,000 payment in exchange for helping to secure planning permission for wind farms.

The former Fine Gael county councillor (66) was one of three politicians featured in a RTÉ corruption sting last week, which investigated the non-disclosure of politicians’ interests.

Following the release of a video where Mr McElvaney says “What's in it for me?” before demanding that an undercover RTÉ reporter give him £10,000 in return for his assistance, the veteran councillor claimed he knew he was being setup.

Adamant that he did nothing wrong, the 66-year-old has said he is the victim of a "dirty tricks campaign" and that he played along with the string because he wanted "the opportunity of showing RTÉ up, our State broadcaster, for what they are".

In return for the sterling, Mr McElvaney told the undercover reporter “Nina” that he would lobby the government on behalf of fictitious wind farm investors.